Paul kept surrendered so he could graduate! 2 COR 4:7-12, 16-18
A father was filling out an application form for his daughter, who was seeking entrance to a very exclusive college. He came to the question on the form which asked whether the applicant was a leader. In honesty, he wrote, "No, but she is a good follower." The application was sent in, and a month later a letter arrived notifying him that his daughter had been accepted. At the bottom of the page, the dean had written, "Since the entering class of 500 has 499 leaders, we thought that there ought to be room for one follower."
Some false prophets had been saying that they were just as good as Paul in what they were doing. He was not wanting to boast but he wanted to show what serving Christ had cost him. He had higher claims to the office than they had. 2 Cor. 11:6 “I may not be a trained speaker, but I know what I am talking about. I think you realize this by now, for we have proved it again and again.” He had been called to it in a more remarkable manner, Acts 9: 3-14, 16, 22-23, 26, 28-29. He tells by his labors and trials, that he had more of the true spirit of a minister of the Lord Jesus than what they had. He tells in detail what he had to endure in spreading the knowledge of the Savior. He did not do this to receive praise but that Christ might be glorified through what he did. With all that we are going to talk about this morning we want to test ourselves as to whether we are surrendered to Christ. His work was not to get the praise of man. He did it because He knew there was a graduation that was out of this world. It was worth more than all this world had to give. He did not have a car or plane to go around holding meetings. When he went out he had to walk or ride a donkey and at times he traveled by ship. He did not have a consistent income but depended on God to have people take care of his needs.
Here are four things to consider as we go through Paul’s course in living for Jesus. Have you had to take classes like these? 1. He claimed to have worked harder. 2. He had been in jail. 3. Whipped many times. 4. Faced death many times.
Would you still follow Christ if you had to go through the class course he had to go through?
A. He had to work hard. We read that he was sent out by the church through the Holy Spirit to reach places where the Gospel had not yet been heard. He was to talk to people that were much different than he was in culture and customs and language. He was to communicate the gospel. He as I see it worked some 30 years. Have any of us been in school for thirty some years?
B. He was whipped with thirty nine lashes five times. The Jews would do this but did not go past 39 because the law allowed 40. The Law of Moses expressly limited the number of stripes that might be inflicted to forty. In no case might this number be exceeded. There was another reason still for limiting it to thirty-nine. They usually made use of a scourge with three thongs, and this was struck thirteen times. We see proof here of his being a minister of Christ, because he remained committed to Christ in these times. When we choose to follow Christ it takes commitment no matter what the test.
C. He had been in prison many times. If your job description included this, how many of us would take the job? Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, mentions only one imprisonment of Paul before the time when this epistle was written. But we are to remember that many things were omitted by Luke. He does not profess to give an account of all that happened to Paul; and an omission is not a contradiction. For anything that Luke says, Paul may have been imprisoned often. He mentions his having been in prison once; he does not deny that he had been in prison many times besides.
D. Paul was exposed to death or suffering pain equal to death many times. No one familiar with the history of Paul can doubt that he was often in danger of death.
Illustration of Pushing the Rock: I have been pondering a story of a weak sickly man. The man was so sick and he could not afford going to town to the doctor. The man lived in the deep back woods in an old log cabin, his condition seemed to grow worse. Out in front of his cabin was a huge boulder. The rock was massive in front of his place. One night in a very real vision, God told him to go out there and push the huge rock all day long, day after day. The man got up early in the morning, and with great excitement, he pushed the rock until lunch, then he rested a while and pushed the rock until suppertime. The man loved pushing against the rock, it gave him meaning. The dream was so real that it was with great excitement he pushed against the rock. Day after day, he pushed. Day rolled into week, and week into months, he faithfully pushed against the rock. After 8 months of pushing the rock, the weak sickly man was getting tired of pushing the rock so much, in his tiredness he started to doubt his dream. So one day he measured from his porch to the rock, and after daily pushing the rock, he would measure to see how much he had moved the rock. After two weeks of pushing and measuring, he realized he had not moved the boulder not a 1/32 of an inch? Actually, the boulder was in the same place as when he started. The man was so disappointed, he thought the dream was so special and now after 9 months he saw his work had accomplished nothing, he was tired and his dream seemed dashed upon the rock. The man sat on his porch and cried and cried, he had invested many hundred hours into nothing. Nothing, it was all nothing! As the sun was sitting in the west, Jesus came and sat down next to the man as he cried. Jesus said, "Son, why are you crying?" The man replied, "Lord, You know how sick and weak I am, and then this dumb dream gave me a false hope and I have pushed with all that was within me for over 9 months, and that dumb old rock is right where it was when I started." Jesus was kind and said to him, "I never told you to move the rock. I told you to push against the rock." The man replied, "Yes, Sir, that was the dream." Jesus told the man to step in front of the mirror and look at himself. As an act of obedience, the man stepped in front of a mirror and looked at himself. The man was amazed, he had been so sickly and weak, and what he saw in the mirror was a strong muscular man. The man realized that he had not been coughing all night. The man started thinking of how well he felt for several months and the strength that he had built by pushing on the rock. Then the man realized that the plan of God was not for the rock, but for the man. So, I suggest to you today, that God is building people. God is building churches. The storms, the trials, the heartaches, the disappointments, are all but part of the process. We should never use people to build the church; we must use the church to build people. Don’t start measuring your success, trust the God that will take the process, and build His people. God is stretching you God is growing you! Understand the plan! Trust His Hands!
E. He was beaten three times with rods. The period of time after the conversion of Paul to the time when Luke joined him at Troas is very briefly given. That period embraced sixteen years, and is comprised in a few chapters. Yet in that time Paul was constantly travelling. He went to Arabia, returned to Damascus, went to Jerusalem, and then to Tarsus; and from Tarsus to Antioch, and thence to Cyprus, and then through Asia Minor. In this time he must have made many voyages, and been exposed to many perils. Yet all this is comprised in a few chapters, and a considerable portion of them is occupied with an account of public discourses. In that period of sixteen years, therefore, there was ample opportunity for all the occurrences which are here referred to by Paul.
F. Paul was stoned and left for death. As I was reading this week, Paul may have actually died and went to heaven of which he records in chapter12 in which he was caught up into the third heaven. God brought him back. My grandson Colton can tell you that when he was three he died for a little bit and went to heaven.
G. Paul was in shipwrecks three times. Paul made many voyages in going from Jerusalem to Tarsus, and to Antioch, and to various parts of Asia Minor, and to Cyprus; and shipwrecks in those seas were by no means such unusual occurrences as to render this account improbable.
H. He spent 24 hours in the water at sea. A night and a day denotes a complete natural day, or twenty-four hours. To what this refers we do not certainly know. It is probable; however, that Paul refers to some period when, having been shipwrecked, he was saved by supporting himself on a plank or fragment of the vessel until he obtained relief. Such a situation is one of great peril, and he mentions it, therefore, among the trials which he had endured.
H. Paul faced danger constantly. He faced danger of waters of losing my life at sea, or by floods, or by crossing streams. Many of the countries, through which he travelled, were then beset with robbers. It is not impossible or improbable that he was often attacked, and his life endangered. He was in danger by his own countrymen. They often laid in wait for him; and were ready to put him to death. They had deep hate against him, and he was in constant danger of being put to death by them. He also faced danger by the heathen. By those who had not the true religion. He faced danger in the wilderness and in the desert, where he would be exposed to ambushes, or to wild beasts, or to hunger and want. He faced danger among false brethren. This was the crowning danger and trial to Paul. He faced danger in being weary resulting from travelling, exposure, labor, and want. He had sleep deprivation that came from abundant toils and from danger. He faced being hungry and thirsty, when travelling among strangers, and being dependent on them and on his own personal labors. He faced danger either from fasting on his own or because he had no food. He faced danger in being cold and without proper clothing. We have been through seven classes Paul went through are you ready to graduate and pass with an incompletion?
J. He faced mental trials and concern resulting from the necessary care of all the churches which he had established, and which needed his constant supervision. They were young; many of them were feeble; many were made up of mixed people; some composed of Jews and Gentiles mingled together, with conflicting prejudices, habits, preferences; many of them were composed of those who had been gathered from the lowest ranks of life; and questions would be constantly occurring, relating to their order and discipline, in which Paul would feel a deep interest, and which would naturally be referred to him for decision. Besides this, they had many trials. They were persecuted, and would suffer much. In their sufferings Paul would feel deep sympathy, and would desire, as far as possible, to afford them relief. In addition to the churches which he had planted, he would feel an interest in all others; and doubtless many cases would be referred to him, as a renowned missionary. Paul could say I feel where others feel, and their sorrows excite deep caring emotions in my bosom. Like a tender and kind friend I am affected when I see others in circumstances of distress. The word weak here may refer to any want of strength, any infirmity or feebleness arising either from body or mind. It may include all who were feeble by persecution or by disease; or it may refer to the weak in faith and doubtful about their duty and to those who were burdened with mental sorrows.
Drinking From My Saucer (By John Paul Moore) “ I've never made a fortune and it's probably too late now But I don't worry about that much I'm happy anyhow and as I go along life's way I'm reaping better than I sow I'm drinking from my saucer 'Cause my cup has overflowed. Haven't got a lot of riches and sometimes the going's tough But I've got loving ones around me and that makes me rich enough. I thank God for His blessings and the mercies He's bestowed. I'm drinking from my saucer 'Cause my cup has overflowed, O, Remember times when things went wrong my faith wore somewhat thin but all at once the dark clouds broke and sun peeped through again. So Lord, help me not to gripe about the tough rows that I've hoed. I'm drinking from my saucer 'Cause my cup has overflowed. If God gives me strength and courage when the way grows steep and rough, I'll not ask for other blessings I'm already blessed enough and may I never be too busy to help others bear their loads. Then I'll keep drinking from my saucer 'Cause my cup has overflowed!” Paul graduated from this earth: 1 Tim 4:6-8
